Capítulo 60: Chapter 4: The Feeling of Being Under Pressure
Karera was… upset. Heavily so. And it wasn't hard to see why, especially if you knew her well enough. But, for those who didn't know her well enough, the reason why she was so upset was because of Kyoka.
Kyoka wasn't answering her phone, her text messages, not even her Discord messages. There was something wrong, and she needed to get to the bottom of it. For a bit of context, before Kyoka left U.A., Karera got all of her contacts so that she could message her whenever it was needed, and so that she could send her money in case Kyoka needed it.
Living without parental support wasn't easy, and Karera knew what that was like, even if only slightly. Karera's mom wasn't dead, but she was extremely busy. And ever since she started living with Josefumi, the only time she talked to her mom was on holidays.
To say that she didn't have the best relationship with her family was an understatement, but that wasn't exactly something she wanted to speak about.
Familial drama aside, there was something else brewing in the back of her mind. Like what could've happened to Kyoka to cause her to drop off the face of the Earth. So, with that in mind, she had decided to arrange a meeting with Josefumi, primarily so she could inform him of what happened.
There was a chance that he had no idea what was going on, as well. And leaving him out of the loop sounded like a bad idea.
However, she held out hope. Hope that maybe he'd have an idea of what was going on. If not, then things were going to get a million times worse. And when she meant worse, she meant worse with a capital W.
Standing underneath one of the cherry blossom trees in the U.A. Campus, Karera waited for Josefumi to show up as she anxiously tapped her foot against the grass. The longer she waited, the worse her worry became.
She knew a lot had happened today, and with Class 1 – B and beyond now put into the "in the know" category of people who knew about Stands, a lot of them were now actively trying to figure out ways to become Stand Users.
Especially Monoma. After his humiliation at the hands of Kira, he wanted to get his get-back, and he wanted to awaken a Stand to do that. The problem with that was that even if he did, Karera knew that Kira would walk all over him.
Killer Queen was nothing to scoff at. And while she had never gone against it in a fight, she knew that it wouldn't be an easy battle. Love Love Deluxe was a powerful Stand. If her fight against Stroheim and his Steam Powered Giraffe proved anything, it was that even though her Stand had a pretty useless ability, it was her creativity that got her out of most of her battles alive.
But if Killer Queen could beat Soft & Wet as thoroughly as Kira had when she had just fully awakened to her Stand, then Love Love Deluxe stood zero chance against it.
Karera might be dumb, but she knew where to draw the line.
It was actually kind of funny. Apparently Class 1 – A was tearing apart at the seams after the revelation that Stands existed. And while that was horrible to hear, and probably made Kira's and Josefumi's lives a living nightmare, Class 1 – B was more on the side of "yeah, okay, so other powers exist, sucks but because there are ways to get them, let's try and get them!"
Sugimoto-sensei wasn't fond of that kind of attitude, but it was better than the class falling apart. She had no idea why Class 1 – A was self-destructing, but a part of her believed that it might have been because of Tenya Ida's death.
From what she knew, he was the glue that held the class together. And without him, things were devolving fast, despite Yaoyorozu Momo's best efforts. Or, so she heard from Kendo-san. Apparently, Kendo-san and Yaoyorozu-san were close friends, even before U.A., so that checked out why they already knew one another.
"Sorry for taking so long," Josefumi called out to her, walking up to her with a goofy smile on his face. The moment the two met eyes, Karera kissed him. He was shocked for about a second but reciprocated the kiss. The two separated, Josefumi smiling along with Karera.
"I missed you, so, so much," Karera said, caressing Josefumi's cheek.
"It's been a day, Karera. It couldn't have been that bad, could it?" Josefumi asked as the dark-haired teen groaned.
"I live with Neito Monoma. Neito. Monoma. To call it bad is an understatement," Karera quipped as Josefumi had to hold back a laugh. "You owe me, big time. Got it?" To this, Josefumi smirked, putting his hand over Karera's.
"Oh, believe me, I know how to make it up to you. Just…" he paused, sighing, stepping away from Karera with a solemn expression on his face. "Look, I have a feeling I know what this meeting is about. It's about Kyoka and her not answering any of your calls, right?" Josefumi asked as Karera nodded, the mood shifting from bright and cheery to dreary and depressing in a split second.
"Yeah… it's… look, I'm worried. What if something bad happened to her? What if Kyoka got hurt and that's why she's not answering? Or… what if her parent's killer caught up with her?" Karera asked, her tone of voice carrying heaps of concern. She saw Kyoka had a sister, even though they weren't blood-related. It's like one of those "I've known you for x amount of years, therefore you're my non-biological sibling" kind of thing.
Josefumi chewed on his lower lip, a frown forming on his face. "Josefumi? Is something up?"
"Karera… do you remember how my dad put a mole into The League Of Villains?" Josefumi asked as Karera raised an eyebrow.
"I mean, yeah. You told me when it happened. Why, what's up?" Karera replied with a question of her own, as Josefumi rubbed his lower arm. He looked… hesitant to answer. And by the look on his face, Karera knew that he probably had a reason to be hesitant. That was when her eyes widened with disbelief. "Josefumi… don't tell me…. Is…?"
"The mole in the League Of Villains reported to me this morning, saying that Kyoka was, for some reason or another, in The League. They haven't told me why, or how, but she is… I thought to tell you as soon as this meeting was arranged. But I knew you weren't going to take it well." As Josefumi said that, his expression became determined. "We'll get her back. We'll figure out what happened that made her join up with The League of Villains, and we'll help her out of it. No matter what!"
Karera smiled. But she couldn't help but feel slightly disheartened. She wished she had known earlier. It had been narrowly two weeks since she had disappeared, and Johnny had begun to worry. The only remaining member of the Jirou Family, his deceased wife's family, had gone missing, and Johnny was starting to get upset.
But now they had an answer. An answer he might not like. Kyoka was like a daughter to him, and for her to be put in this awful situation….
"Does your Dad know?" Karera asked as Josefumi shook his head.
"No. But he will know by the end of today. We still don't know where The League's base of operations is, but with Johnny hunting them down, it won't take long for us to find them, and potentially who these Damnatio Ad Bestias guys really are."
Karera nodded, as Josefumi turned to leave. "See you later, Karera. I'll come by 1 – B's dorms later tonight, see you then." And with that, Josefumi left the cherry tree. Karera sighed, sitting down on the ground. She was going to need to clear her head a little more. Maybe she'd go take a walk? Maybe… honestly she had no idea what she was going to do.
"You know what? Maybe I can go see what Kira's up to. It's been a while since we talked… I think the last time we saw one another was at Ida's and Midoriya-san's funeral…" Karera thought, sighing. She kinda didn't want to move but at the same time, if she was going to go see Kira and speak to her, it was best for her to just get it over and done with.
She was a little further into the campus area, specifically at the Third Year Dormitory area as it was the only place where she could find a cherry tree, and because of that it would be about an hour or so walk to the 1 – A dorms, and that's including if she ran, so it was more like a two hour walk.
Rolling her shoulders out of habit, Karera leapt up from the ground and began to walk out from underneath the tree. When she did, however, she felt a significant amount of weight being applied to her, so much so that it immediately caused her to trip and fall on her feet, and tumble to the ground with a hard thud.
The impact that she made onto the ground caused a small divot to be created where she landed. Her arms felt heavy, almost as if someone was layering a hard layer of something overtop of her. She found it a chore to even get up from the ground. That, however, didn't stop her from getting up off the ground, as tedious and as draining as it was.
However, the effect didn't stop. Instead, it only got heavier.
"What the hell is happening?!" Karera thought, panic coming over her. She looked back to the tree and narrowed her eyes. "The moment I left from underneath the tree was the moment I got hit by this odd pressure. But… where is it coming from?!" Karera's thoughts continued. "I gotta get back underneath the tree!" Karera thought as she lifted her leg, as difficult as it had been, and began to slowly trudge her way back underneath the tree.
The moment she was able to get underneath the cherry tree, the pressure immediately ceased. Her breathing was ragged, and her heart was pounding in her chest. Her legs felt weak and her arms hurt. "It was like being crushed under someone's foot! My legs felt like they were going to break, and I hate it!" Karera thought as she frowned.
"But now… I have to know. Was that the use of a Quirk, or a Stand? Because with this school, there's no telling. If it were out in the public, I'd automatically assume it to be a Stand. But because there are so many hero potential Quirks out there, and with this school being a magnet for top-of-the-line Quirks…." As Karera thought that, she scanned the area.
Everyone seemed to be minding their own business. No one saw what happened, either that, or someone was acting. However, she didn't see anyone who had an aura around them. "If a Stand is active, someone will have some kind of aura around them…" Karera continued to scout the area but found no one.
"Hey, uh… are you okay?" A voice called out to her, making Karera look over her shoulder. What she saw was… well, nothing short of beautiful.
Long flowing blue hair, a white shirt with a grey button-up sleeveless vest, a light green skirt, ankle-high socks, and brown shoes. The girl in question had a confused expression on her face, along with a curious head tilt. Her eyes were light blue, and her skin was a fair colour. She knew this person, she was…
"Nejire Hado… from the Big Three?" Karera muttered, shaking her head. "U-Uh, yeah, I'm fine…"
"But you're breathing heavily, and your legs and arms are shaking. That, and there's a small hole just a few steps away from the cherry tree!" Nejire replied, her voice chock-full of concern. "I used to eat my lunches here during the lunch period, but now because I live here, I eat my suppers here. Then I saw you, and, well…!"
Karera clenched her jaw. "Well, there goes baffling her with bullshit… I knew I shouldn't have tried that." As Karera thought that, she smirked. Now, she had an idea. "If I can't move from this spot because I'm being attacked… She can help me!" "Hey, Hado-senpai," Karera said, slowly standing up as the blue-haired teen's eyes locked onto Karera.
"Yeah?"
"You know about Stands, right? You had a class with Sugimoto-sensei today?" Karera asked as Hado smiled.
"I did! Oh, it was so interesting! I wanted to learn more but the class ended! Tomorrow's gonna be fun because I get to learn more!" Hado said, her smile damn near infectious as Karera sighed. "Uh, so what about it?"
Karera bit her tongue. She didn't know exactly what was going on, but she was going to rule out the idea of this being a Quirk. No emitter-style Quirk was this strong, and, because everyone here was preoccupied with life, no one could focus this hard on her specifically and not look unnoticeable. That meant that she was being attacked by a Stand.
"Here goes nothing…." Karera thought as she looked up at Hado-senpai. "Right now, I'm being targeted by a Stand. I can't leave this spot because if I do, I'll get flattened. That's why there's a small hole in front of the tree because I got crushed by immense pressure. It seems to only be affecting me. If I give you my contact information, and I video call you, I'll be able to see the Stand and its user. That way, you might be able to get them to stop. I'd do it myself, but…."
To further prove what was going on, Karera stuck one of her legs out from underneath the tree, causing the pressure to be instantly applied. However, it was far heavier than last time, digging deeper into the ground than before.
"W-What the hell!?" Karera thought, eyes wide. Hado grabbed her leg, and lifted, grunting.
"H-Holy smokes! I-It's really heavy! Like… stupidly heavy! Heavier than a 350-pound weight!" Hado said through grunts. But, regardless of that, she was able to narrowly get it out from the ground and put it back under the tree. When she backed away, blood coated the tips of her fingers, making Hado stagger back. "Gah! O-Okay, uh… yeah, you really didn't need to do that!"
"It was far lighter than that… a minute ago…" Karera said through grit teeth, blood squirting from the torn skin around her ankle. Digging around in her blazer pocket, she grabbed her phone and slid it over to Hado. "Add me… to your phone's contacts… and do exactly w-what I tell you… The Stand User can't be far from this location… if I had to guess, this is a long ranged Stand. The user could be 50 meters away, or 5 miles away. Either way… if this doesn't stop, the pressure will get to the point where I'll die by just poking my head out an inch…"
Hado paled at that, but otherwise agreed. She snagged the phone, got her contact information, then tossed it back to Karera. "Alright! I won't let you down, Sakunami-chan!" And with that, Hado took off. Karera called her, and then, she initiated the video call, switching the camera to be in front of her. "You be my sights, and I'll be your barrel!"
"Alright! Let's get 'em!"
xxXXxxXXxx
Togeike was confident. However, she was also nervous. Her master told her a list of names that she had to target, and while she wanted to kill Kira, she knew that going like that off the hop was a bad idea. Kira was a monster in both speed and strength, mixed with her bomb ability, it would only serve to put a target on her back. The same went with Midoriya and Shoto Todoroki.
Her reasoning for not targeting Midoriya was that she knew something was up with him, and he was one of the top students in 1 – A. There was a reason for that, and she didn't want to be the one to find out why that was. If he was strong enough to go toe-to-toe with Shoto Todoroki and win, then that wasn't someone she was going to pick a fight with, Stand or no Stand.
And the same thing went for Shoto Todoroki. That was a big nope.
Kujo was… well, he was a Joestar, and she knew better than to target a Joestar. That was certain death. They always found a way to get out of shitty situations. No matter how much the odds were stacked against them. So, that left only one option.
Karera Sakunami.
While Togeike knew basically nothing about her, that gave her a lot to work with. Sure, there was probably a reason why her master wanted her dead, and while she knew both her and Kujo were a thing, and while she was definitely making a dumb choice, that was the only one she knew definitively that she could take out.
So, that's exactly what she went with. And her new Stand made things a whole lot better.
Her original Quirk was the ability to put pressure on things she touched. She only got a measly 12 points in the physical exam, which wasn't nearly enough. However, it proved her potential. She thought she was going to be able to make it into the hero course in the Sports Festival, but that Shoto Todoroki asshole had frozen the ground, making it impossible for her to move forward.
Effectively, she lost before she could've done anything. And, by the time the pressure of her Quirk cracked the ice enough to free herself, the race only had 30 seconds left, and there was nothing that she could've done.
But now she had a Stand. She had her Under Pressure. It was quite an interesting thing, all things considered. Whoever's name she typed in would be sent a wave of pressure up to five miles away from her. Granted, she had to have heard the name before, and also granted, the target wasn't allowed to be under anything natural—like trees and the like—but otherwise she could kill them from a long distance away.
Another thing, she could only target one person at a time… It sucked, but, hey, if it worked, it worked. And while she wished she could target more people at once, she was lucky she got what she had.
Under Pressure appeared over her left lower arm, and looked kind of like one of those cyborg implants that the HSPC was working on. The kind that installed a little computer into your arm with a foldout keyboard. It had letters covering it that spelt Under Pressure and it was her favourite colour - dark blue.
"I only need to wait ten minutes for Under Pressure's ability to kill that Sakunami chick. The Pressure doubles every minute, starting from a gentle press of someone's hand on their shoulder to the weight of the moon crashing down on you. Of course, that much pressure isn't needed to kill a singular person, it is a good way to make sure they are dead."
As Togeike thought that, she walked amongst a crowd of students hanging around the densely forested area of the school. If she were to be honest, she didn't want to be around this many people. But, at the same time, what other choice did she have? She had to make sure that she blended in, and if she stuck out like a sore thumb, someone was going to notice her acting suspiciously.
So, if she hung out around a massive crowd searching the forest for Hinata… Well, it wasn't that difficult to say she was just looking around, helping to find the boy. Apparently, Headmaster Nedzu had some "important things to say to him" according to their Homeroom Teacher, Yamada-Sensei.
She wasn't going to be found. That much she knew.
"Keep searching! I can't see anything yet, Hado-Senpai!"
"I'm trying! But they're so many of these guys!"
"What?! That voice…! That's Nejire Hado of The Big Three! Why the hell is she here?!" Togeike thought, looking over her shoulder. The blue-haired upperclassman was using a phone to scan over people, and… the person on the phone, on speaker phone, was Karera Sakunami. "Holy shit! She's trying to pick me out from a crowd! Nejire can't see Stands, but Karera can! How the hell did she—Wait… there's something I can do… but, I don't know if it'll work… If I switch up the target…?" Togeike frowned at the thought.
If she switched up the target, then that left Karera ample time to move and close the distance. That, and they were under heavy foliage. Her best bet was to run out from her peripheral vision, get Nejire out in the open, and activate Under Pressure's ability on her. "It's risky… but that's all I got! I can't let Karera Sakunami see me! So long as Karera Sakunami doesn't see me, and I activate my Under Pressure on Nejire, then I can kill her and then lure out and kill Karera Sakunami! That's two for the price of one! Even if Nejire wasn't one of my targets, she's in my way!"
Togeike waited for the right time, just when she was in Nejire's peripheral vision. The moment she was at the right angle to just barely be noticed by the blue-haired girl, Togeike made a run for it in the opposite direction.
"Hey! You! Get back here! Let me see your face!" Togeike heard Nejire call out to her, making the brunette smirk. She had her hook, line, and sinker. However, she knew that it wouldn't be in her favour for long. She knew that she wouldn't be able to outrun her, mostly because of Nejire's Quirk allowing her to fly. Wave Motion was a powerful Quirk, one that made her as powerful as she was.
But, that was what she was banking on…. "Her getting in the air will do more harm than good! Then again, she most likely knows about the pressure. So she won't fly. Unless she is that stupid… if the rumours are true, and she's as airheaded as I think she is…."
Togeike made it out of the clearing, and luckily, into another crowd, this time out in the open. Retracting Karera's name from Under Pressure's interface, and just as Nejire made it out of the forest, scanning the area for her, Togeike put Nejire Hado's name into Under Pressure.
Then, she pressed enter at the same time Nejire got into the air.
And the moment that happened, Nejire came crashing to the ground like lead in water. And, at the exact same time, she landed right on top of her phone, a distinct crushing and snapping sound ringing out through the area.
Togeike watched as Nejire tried to get up from the ground, face in the dirt as she groaned. Togeike smirked. Ten minutes. All she had to do was keep Under Pressure active on Nejire for, at the bare minimum, ten minutes, maybe even less, until her skull was crushed under the weight.
There was no way in hell that Karera knew where she was. And, even if she did, it would take more than 10 minutes to cross the forest and to the next clearing, which was next to Gym Gamma.
She'd get this job done. Their efforts were for nothing.
After this, she'd move on to the next target.
And her Master would be proud.
xxXXxxXXxx
Karera was worried. Worried because the connection between her phone and Nejire's was cut. She had no idea what was going on, but the fact that it was instant was worrying. "What the hell is going on over there?" Karera thought. She re-dialled Nejire, but instead of getting answered, the phone went immediately to voicemail.
"Okay, something really sketchy is happening…. Wait a second… Did the user switch up targets?" Karera thought as she stuck her leg out from the tree. Instead of it being crushed instantly, she found herself completely fine. "They did! So that means that the user can only target one person at a time! Which means… Nejire found the user!"
Karera leapt up from where she had been stuck. Luckily, her ankle hadn't been broken from being crushed two times in a row, which just went to show how durable bones could be. That aside, she ran like the wind in the direction Nejire went to find the Stand User.
As she ran, she noted small indents in the trees she ran past them, making sure to follow them so that she didn't get lost. Why were there indents in the tree? Simple. Karera had come up with an idea, that should Nejire get attacked by the Stand User, she should make a trail for Karera to follow.
She reasoned that The Stand User could only target one person, which was why she was being targeted, and why the pressure didn't affect Nejire as it had herself. Because otherwise, Nejire wouldn't have been able to help bring her leg back under the safety of the Cherry Tree.
Because of that, she also reasoned that should Nejire be targeted by The Enemy Stand User, that would leave Karera free to follow whatever trail it was that Nejire had decided to use as a marking system so that Karera could quickly follow after.
And so, the marking system that they both agreed upon was that Nejire would put small heart-shaped makers into the trees that she passed, and to make them large enough for her to spot. She did this by using her Wave Motion Quirk to make the markers and created one every 10 trees.
So long as Karera followed that, she'd be fine, and, hopefully, she'd be able to find Nejire and The Enemy Stand User. An accidental bonus that Karera just realized about this whole thing, was that if The Enemy Stand User suddenly switched up targets, either because Nejire was killed or knocked unconscious and faked being dead, then Karera would be fine because she was under the trees.
It was kind of funny how that all lined up in her favour. She hadn't even thought about that. That was, of course, assuming that the ability of the Stand didn't work when she was under something like a tree. She assumed it was the case because she wasn't affected by the pressure when underneath the cherry tree.
Was it bad to assume? Yes. But considering she didn't have many options at her disposal at the moment… yeah, what else was there to do?
Regardless, if she followed the same path as Nejire, she'd find her in no time, and if she found Nejire, she'd find the Stand User.
"I have to be quick! I have no idea how much time I have until Nejire dies, or if the user switches targets out of fear. I can't be sure I have the upper hand. But, the moment I get to where Nejire is, I should be able to spot them with ease! All Stand Users with their Stand active glows. It'll be like pressing the glowing green button in a sea of red buttons!" As Karera thought that, she made a sharp left turn after running in a straight line for a good portion of 3 minutes.
Because of her skills as a former thief, she was fairly fast and had even broken the speed record at U.A. set by Nejire with a non-Quirked running distance last month. Granted, Nejire had set that record almost a full year ago, and she could have gotten faster by now, but that hardly mattered. What mattered was that she was fast enough to find Nejire faster than she got to Gym Gamma
She had to get to Nejire.
She had to take out this Stand User.
There were no if's, and's or buts.
It had to be done.
"Right now, if the distance is right, I should be halfway to Gym Gamma, which was where Nejire said she was going to check first. If the phone was crushed and Nejire was taken by surprise at Gym Gamma, which the times match up for that to be the case, then The Stand User will be there!" Karera thought as she summoned Love Love Deluxe to her side.
"Which means now is the best time to try out this new thing I learned while under Eraserhead-sensei!" Karera thought as she crouched. When she did, Love Love Deluxe phased over her in the same crouching position. The moment Love Love Deluxe layered overtop her body, Karera leapt forward and cleared a good portion of the forest in a split second.
Stand Jumping was a technique that other Stand Users could do, so long as their Stand was humanoid. It was hyper-specific, and she had only figured out how to do it when she woke up late on an internship with Eraserhead-sensei. He had commented on how it was impressive for her to clear two whole city blocks in a single leap, but also told her not to do it again unless need be.
Thankfully, it was easy to master, and she could regulate how much force the jump would go. Seeing as she needed to clear the rest of the forest, she decided to go full power. Sure, it tore up the ground some, but what else was she supposed to do?
The height she had gained was enough for her to see Nejire being pushed into a hole. She couldn't make out the details, but she could make out someone in the distance. Someone glowing in a bright blue aura in the center of a crowd made up of students. She also noticed that a few students were trying to help Nejire up but seemed to be making no headway.
That meant she had found exactly what she had been looking for!
"THERE THEY ARE!" Karera thought as she landed a few feet away. "One more leap… one more leap and I should be able to make it!" And with that in mind, Karera crouched, layered Love Love Deluxe over herself again, and leapt forward, this time using half the amount of oomph as she did the last time.
Flying through the air, Karera saw her target. A brown-haired girl with pigtails, lightly tanned skin, and brown eyes. She was wearing U.A. 's school uniform, signifying she was a student—duh—and she had some sort of mini-computer on her arm, which she assumed was her Stand. And, she seemed to be only paying attention to Nejire. Speaking of Nejire, her senpai just finished coughing up blood. Meaning…
"If I don't stop this now, she'll die!" Karera thought urgently, as she landed right where she wanted to land.
Right in front of the enemy Stand User.
A dust cloud was kicked up from her landing, causing the Stand User to cough violently. "W-What the hell was—"
Before the enemy could finish her sentence, Love Love Deluxe reached and grabbed them by the front of her blazer. The enemy Stand User's eyes widened with shock and alarm, as Karera stared the teen down, anger in her eyes as the enemy began to squirm. "W-What?! H-How the hell did you get here so fast!?" The Enemy Stand User questioned as Karera glared daggers at her.
"That doesn't matter," Karera stated, narrowing her eyes toward the enemy. "You picked the wrong person to target. I'm not like any of my friends. They would at least give you the chance to explain yourself. Me? Absolutely the fuck not!" Karera spat, as Love Love Deluxe reared back its right fist. Karera's hair shot forward and wrapped around the enemy with frightening speed, and as soon as it created the hair cocoon, and Love Love Deluxe had both of its hands free and ready to punch, Karera smirked.
On the inside, Togeike was typing as fast as she could, erasing Nejire's name from Under Pressure. However, because the hair was constantly moving, it made her miss key after key, making it take longer than it otherwise would. That, and the more she moved, the more it seemed the hair was closing in on her, like a boa constrictor!
"G-Goddamnit! S-Sit still! I-I—" Before Togeike could finish her sentence, the hair closed in, binding her arms to her body and completely smothering her, the hair now becoming a perfect outline for her body. "W-Wha—"
"It's people like you who I try and weed out…!" Karera spat. "So, I think it's about time I sent you packing!" And as soon as those words left Karera's mouth Love Love Deluxe let out its battle cry, and began to rapidly punch the now form-fitting hair cocoon at speeds far faster than the human eye could wish to track.
[RABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABURABU!!!RABU!!!!]
With the final punch, Love Love Deluxe sent Chikuchi Togeike flying, her body broken and bruised and her Stand completely gone. Her body slammed against a nearby rock, the rock smashing into bits the moment her body collided with it, after which she slammed into the wall of Gym Gamma, her body slumped, unmoving.
Nejire groaned, and with the help of others around her, she was able to stand up. "Sakunami-san! You did it!" Nejire called out as Karera smirked, flashing her a thumbs up.
"Not without your help. Thanks, Senpai!"
[][][][][][][][]
# - 18 – Under Pressure
Stand User: Chikuchi Togeike
Stand Type: Long Ranged, Wearable
Appearance: Under Pressure is a Wearable Stand that takes the form of a portable arm computer. Under Pressure is coloured a deep blue, with a small screen in the center, and attached to the bottom part of the computer is a QWERTY-style keyboard. There are English Letters scattered across the Stand in a random pattern. The letters are the ones used to make up the name Under Pressure.
Ability: Under Pressure, upon typing in someone's name, within a 5 – 10 mile radius around the user, will apply pressure to the person in question, inevitably crushing them to death, which takes about 10 to 15 minutes to complete. However, there are a few caveats to the ability.
One: Togeike must have heard the person's name, and has to have heard it at least once in her life, meaning that she can't just google a name, put it into Under Pressure, and activate the Stand's ability.
Two: The target MUST be within the 5 – 10 mile radius of Togeike. Granted, the user can move and the range will move with her, however, if the user is not within the 5 – 10 mile radius, then Under Pressure's ability will not work.
Three: The target cannot be under any biological object when the ability activates. For example, if the target is standing under a tree, then the target will not be affected by Under Pressure. Consequently, if the target is under the roof of a house, Under Pressure's ability will still apply to them.
Four: The biological object has to at least cover the shoulders. Otherwise, the ability will still work on the target. The ability does not work underground.
Stats:
Destructive Power: C
Range: A
Speed: E
Persistence: B
Precision: C
Developmental Potential: E
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At the school's medical ward, Present Mic, Sugimoto, and Nedzu were standing around the hospital bed of one Chikuchi Togeike. "I don't get it… how did she even get a Stand?" Present Mic asked as Sugimoto frowned, crossing his arms.
"If I were to guess… most likely one of those Yellow Bullets. The Speedwagon Foundation has collected a few off of people we were able to arrest in connection to those who distribute them. After running a few tests, we found that the tip of the bullet, the needle head, is made out of the same material as the head of a Stand Arrow. That, and the bullet contained the virus inside of it, along with what appeared to be human DNA. And before you ask, we've already tried tracking down who the DNA belongs to, but each time we get nothing. Nothing from the Japanese database, or any other database for that matter," Sugimoto explained as Nedzu hummed.
"That explains Togeike's sudden ability to use a Stand. But… that doesn't explain why she would go after one of the students. Unless there is something else we're missing here… perhaps we should question—"
Before Nedzu could finish, flesh-like appendages burst out of Togeike's eyes, mouth, and ears. The teenager screamed in pain, causing everyone to jump back. On reflex, Sugimoto summoned Cloud 9 and tried to have it grab one of the tendrils, but they were too fast to be grabbed. After a few seconds, the tendrils dug into Togeike's face and ripped her head clean in half.
Blood coated the wall behind Togeike's corpse, as now a mass of flesh was left where her head had been, only for it to be burned up due to the window having been opened next to the bed, allowing sunlight to enter the room, and burn the thing into nothing but ash.
"W-what the fuck was that!?" Present Mic nearly screamed as Sugimoto sighed.
"A flesh bud. A tool that Vampires use to create thralls. It seems as if our Vampire Friend, the one responsible for killing Ida, has made his move. He's using students to do his dirty work. Who knows who could've been given a Stand and a Flesh Bud? Or, if Togeike was the only one," Sugimoto explained as he looked at his fellow co-workers. "There's nothing we can do about it now. For Togeike, I mean. We'll tell her parents that she had gotten caught up in an accident revolving around a villain attack a few feet away from the school, and leave it at that."
Nedzu narrowed his eyes. "Why would you lie to a parent about how their child passed away, Sugimoto? Shouldn't we tell the truth?"
Sugimoto shook his head. "As I said, Stands should be kept secret. The only reason I came here to teach at this school was because of rampant attacks on the students caused by Stand Users. Everyone else is to remain in the dark. I do not care if it goes against your morals, Nedzu. I will pull out funding if I have to keep this a secret. Am I clear?"
Nedzu hissed but looked shrouded in defeat nonetheless. "You're just like those at the HSPC…"
"Don't even bother," Sugimoto retorted. "The HSPC would have buried this completely and told the parents that their daughter just went missing. At least I'm telling them somewhat of the truth. That, and they will be fully compensated. The SWF will pay off their mortgage and bills for life, as well as cover any travel expenses. It's the least we can do."
And with that, Sugimoto left the room, leaving behind a disappointed Nedzu and a slightly mad Present Mic.
It wasn't right. For them to sweep this under the rug. But they pretty much had their arms twisted behind their back. If the Speedwagon Foundation pulled out funding, then the school would go bankrupt in a year. The HSPC was a no-go because they would put their talons into the school faster than they could blink.
It was only then that Nedzu noticed something. There was a note on the floor, and it was in Sugimoto's handwriting. He picked it up, and when he read it, his beady black eyes widened.
"There is a traitor amongst you. Someone who is leaking information to The League Of Villains. I saw someone in the faculty room who shouldn't have been. I couldn't make out who it was because they were wearing a face mask, a black hoodie and pants, along with black shoes. I was going to apprehend them, but they disappeared through a portal before I could. I cannot say this out loud, or else they will hear me. They have ears all over the place. I found listening devices in rooms like the meeting room behind the cameras. Be careful, Nedzu!"
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